ASIET News Updates - Feb 14, 1999 ================================= * Military bullets found at site of shootings * Indonesia frees rebel leader * 17 political parties eligible for elections * Indonesia ready to lift Horta travel ban --------------------------------------------------------------- Military bullets found at site of shootings =========================================== Serambi Indonesia - February 9, 1999 (BBC summary) Idi Cut -- Residents have found bullet cartridges produced by the Bandung-based State Munitions Industries [Pindad] scattered around the Idi Cut Military Sector Command post in Darul Aman Subdistrict, East Aceh, the day after shots were fired to disperse a crowd gathered there early on Wednesday morning (3rd February). More cartridges and projectiles were found where bodies were disposed of, and bullets were recovered from the bodies of victims who received medical attention. People who found the cartridges said that they bore the markings "Pindad-88" and "Pindad-91" ... Witness statement Elsewhere, Serambi yesterday met two witnesses to the bloody incident at Idi Cut -- Razali (18) and M. Yusuf (25), both Idi Cut residents. These youths, who said that they had been detained at the East Aceh Police Headquarters, claimed that early on the Wednesday [10th February] morning, the crowd had been proceeding home at a leisurely pace, on foot, or by motorcycle, pickup or larger truck, after attending a meeting on the theme "A Call for a Free Aceh" at Matang Ulim village. When they reached Seunuebok Aceh village, not far from the military post, they were stoned by a group of youths. A number of troublemakers, who had mixed with the crowd, hurled stones at the military post. These people then disappeared. Razali and Yusuf said that they could not recognise them, as the lights at the military post had been turned off. A few moments later, fully armed ABRI [Indonesian armed forces] troops suddenly appeared and fired into the crowd. "I saw several people lying on the ground with bullet wounds," said Razali. As the wounded cried out, two military trucks appeared, into which the victims were loaded. Some were presumed already dead. One of the trucks then headed east, the other west. The truck that went into Langsa handed over its "cargo" to the East Aceh police. The other truck is presumed to have thrown its "cargo" into the Arakundo River, weighted... No-go area Students who have set up an information post have received a peculiar report from residents. Apparently the military authorities have forbidden them from examining the long grass or clearing the bush in the vicinity of Kampung Seuneubok Aceh village. The village head, Usman Husin, told Serambi that ABRI had indeed issued this order. Residents had planned to check the bushes for bodies of people missing after the Idi Cut incident... [According to a February 11 report by Amnesty International, Anwar Yusuf, a 23-year-old volunteer with a human rights organization, has reportedly "disappeared". AI said it was "seriously concerned" for his safety and belive his "disappearance" is linked to the February 3 killings. Yusuf was apparently taken from his home by a man who identified himself as a member of Koramil Idi Rayeuk. The man had no arrest warrant and according to Yusuf's mother, he was told that he would be taken to Koramil at Idi Rayeau for questioning in connection with the incident on February 3. When he failed to return the next day his mother went to Koramil and was told that they had no information but that she should check with the East Aceh regional police command (Polres). Polres did not give her any information either - James Balowski.] Indonesia frees rebel leader ============================ Washington Post - February 10, 1999 Keith B. Richburg, Jakarta -- With a smile, a wave and a clenched fist thrust defiantly in the air, East Timorese resistance leader Jose Alexandre Xanana Gusmao emerged from prison today to be driven to a refurbished Jakarta bungalow, where the nation's best-known guerrilla leader and political prisoner begins a new role at the center of negotiations over the future independence of his disputed homeland. Xanana has been in prison since he was captured by Indonesian troops in 1992 while leading the Fretilin guerrilla movement fighting Indonesia's occupation of East Timor. His life sentence was later commuted to 20 years, but he was moved today to a form of "house arrest" as part of a deal with government officials to allow Xanana to take part in intensifying talks between the United Nations and Timor's former colonial power, Portugal, aimed at resolving the 24-year-old conflict. If East Timor is granted independence -- and the Indonesian government has now said that is a possibility if a current autonomy offer is rejected -- then Xanana, 52, a Jesuit-trained poet who has become the recognizable face of Timorese resistance, is widely considered most likely to become the new nation's first president. Xanana is still in custody, but his move today was nonetheless an unmistakable sign of how far Indonesia has moved in its willingness to abandon a chunk of its territory, and to open a dialogue with a man once considered a dangerous separatist. Today's scene of Xanana at his new house, surrounded by cheering supporters with a large flag of independent East Timor, was another startling reminder of the changes that have swept Indonesia since the fall of president Suharto ushered in a new period of openness and democratic reform. When he arrived at the house, surrounded by a crush of journalists and chanting supporters, Xanana urged a halt to the fighting, and asked all sides to be patient while he begins finding a solution to the Timor dispute. "I feel that I have been given a very heavy task, and I have to do it. That's why I am here," the soft-spoken Xanana told reporters. "I feel that with talks with East Timorese from all sides, I can create an East Timorese nation." "In my opinion, the priority now in solving the problems of East Timor is to create a peaceful climate," he said, adding that all sides in the conflict should "reduce their enmity or hostility" to make his job easier. Indonesia's Justice Minister Muladi, who was at the house to greet Xanana, said: "Xanana is here not only to sit, but also to work, to help solve the problem of East Timor." Talks in New York this week between the Indonesian and Portuguese foreign ministers, Ali Alatas and Jaime Gama, produced the broad outlines of an agreement, but the two sides still differ over a key issue: Portugal insists on a popular referendum to decide East Timor's fate, while Indonesia wants an alternative method of "consultation" to gauge local sentiment. Indonesia fears that a new referendum on Timor -- coming as the country prepares for its own democratic elections in June -- could be costly, hard to organize, and might trigger new fighting between rival Timorese factions. For the many East Timorese who have been fighting the independence struggle, Xanana's move to house arrest was an important step in a long process. But some expressed anger that the rebel leader was not freed unconditionally and allowed to return to East Timor, while others viewed Indonesia's latest independence offer, and its rejection of a referendum, with suspicion. "Something is not now clear," said Fernando La'Sama de Araujo, general secretary of Renetil, the National Resistance of Timorese Students. "Alatas said if East Timorese reject the proposal for autonomy" they could have independence. "The problem is how to know if East Timorese reject autonomy. [Indonesian authorities] don't want a referendum. They are allergic to a referendum." "We know the majority of East Timorese people want to be independent," he added. Antonio Joao Gomez de Costa, a colleague of Xanana's in the resistance and a member of the movement's central committee, said, "Xanana should be released. He should not be here in Jakarta." East Timor, 1,250 miles east of Jakarta with a population of 800,000, was claimed by Portugal in the 17th century. The Portuguese remained there for three centuries, until a coup in Lisbon brought a socialist government to power that sought to sever links with far-flung colonies. When Portugal withdrew from Timor in 1975, fighting erupted between rival Timorese factions. The socialist-leaning Fretilin emerged on top and proclaimed independence in November of that year. Nine days later, Indonesian troops invaded East Timor on the pretext of stopping the bloodshed, and in 1976, East Timor was annexed as Indonesia's 27th province. The annexation was never recognized by the United Nations, which still considers Portugal the administrating power. Human rights groups say as many as 200,000 Timorese have died from fighting, starvation and disease since Indonesia's invasion and annexation. At the time of the invasion, then-President Suharto said he wanted to prevent the leftist Fretilin from turning East Timor into "a Cuba in our backyard." Today, some of the triumphant young Xanana supporters who showed up at his bungalow wore T-shirts with the face and name of the late Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, an icon for the Timorese resistance movement. 17 political parties eligible for elections =========================================== Indonesian Observer - February 10, 1999 Jakarta -- Forty-nine new political parties have registered at the Justice Ministry to contest the June general election, but only 17 have met administrative requirements, officials said yesterday. Rasi Manopo, secretary of the ministry's registration committee, said 49 parties have applied to participate in the June 7 election since registrations commenced on February 5. The 17 parties that qualify for the election include: Indonesian National Party (PNI) chaired by Supeni, Justice and Unity Party (PNI), Murba Party, Indonesian Muslims Party, Republican Party, and the National Mandate Party (PAN). Other qualifiers are: Indonesian Muslim Unity Party (PSII), Indonesian National Christian Party, National Democrats Party, Unity in Diversity Party, and National Awakening Party (PKB). The 17 still have to pass a final selection test that will be conducted by an 11-member independent team chaired by prominent Muslim scholar Noercholish Madjid. Manopo said six political parties were found bearing the same names -- namely four PNIs and two PSIIs. Newly passed political laws prevent parties with the same names or symbols from contesting the election, which the government has promised will be democratic and fair. The Justice Ministry has given three days for non-qualifying registered parties to complete the requisite administrative conditions, including notary certificates. Registrations will close on February 22. Indonesia ready to lift Horta travel ban ======================================== The Australian - February 11, 1999 Don Greenlees -- Indonesian Justice Minister Muladi yesterday signalled that a ban on Nobel peace prize winner Jose Ramos Horta from entering the country could be revoked to enable him to join in talks on the future status of East Timor. "He [Mr Ramos Horta] has to join [the talks]. It's only a matter of how. Is it enough to send a letter, to come here or [meet] in another country? That's another problem," he said. Asked about restrictions on Mr Ramos Horta entering Indonesia, he said: "That's no problem. We can revoke that." It came as Fretilin leader Xanana Gusmao appealed to all parties to the conflict in East Timor to bring an end to the bloodshed. Speaking shortly after being transferred out of Jakarta's Cipinang jail to house arrest, Gusmao said: "If all sides do not want to reduce their enmity or their hostility, then the problem will become more and more difficult. "In my opinion, the priority now in solving the problems of East Timor is to create a peaceful climate." Later, Mr Muladi, who greeted Gusmao on his arrival at the central Jakarta house where he will be held, said Indonesia maintained its opposition to demands by East Timorese pro- independence groups for a referendum on the status of the former Portuguese colony. He praised Gusmao and expressed the hope his removal from prison would enable him to "work and participate" more actively in a solution for the two-decade-old dispute over East Timor. "Xanana is very moderate and co-operative," Mr Muladi said. "He is one of the key figures." But former East Timorese guerilla commander Antonio Gomez da Costa, known as "Mahuno", called on Indonesia immediately to free Gusmao, describing house arrest as "not enough". "The reason is simply that Xanana is East Timor's leader," Mr Gomez da Costa said. He said work should begin immediately on Gusmao's proposals for a ceasefire between all armed factions, a process of disarmament, followed by a UN presence to help maintain peace. Yesterday's move from jail to house arrest marked a long journey for the man who was once Indonesia's most wanted. Known as Ze by fellow inmates, Gusmao was serving a 20-year sentence for plotting against the State and illegal possession of weapons. The second eldest of nine children, he was born on June 20, 1946, and grew up in a village near north central Manatuto. Devoted to the cause of East Timor's independence, he spent 18 years hiding out with pro-independence guerillas. By 1974, Gusmao was caught up in politics, becoming a member of the Associacao Social Democratica Timor -- a new pro-independence political party. Leaving behind a wife and two children, he joined the guerillas two days after Fretilin proclaimed a free East Timor on November 28, 1975. A week later, Indonesia invaded Dili. Gusmao took on the leadership of the armed wing of Fretilin in 1979 and played a game of cat and mouse with Indonesian authorities for the next 15 years. ********************************************************** Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) PO Box 458, Broadway NSW 2007 Australia Phone: 61-(0)2-96901230 Fax : 61-(0)2-96901381 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW : http://www.peg.apc.org/~asiet/ Free Xanana Gusmao, Budiman Sujatmiko and Dita Sari! Free all political prisoners in Indonesia and East Timor! ********************************************************** end ============== Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html The Year 2000 Bug - An Urgent Sustainability Issue http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/grin-y2k.htm
